I don't want to go back. Ever. This place is amazing.
I don't even know where to start. Oh- and for the time being, I'm stuck using the internet cafe set up by Citigroup. This means, for the time being, no pictures. We have some great ones, but just need to decide if we want to pay the $-per-minute charge for internet in our room. Lame.
Our room (casita) is bigger than our apartment. Actually, I think the bathroom/closet area is bigger than our apartment. The bed is huge, the sheets are soft, the Aveda products in the bathroom are fantastic, and every night they leave a special treat for us from the spa (last night was a stress relieving oil). There is a fireplace. We look out into the Arizona "jungle" through HUGE sliding glass doors. It is beautiful. There are wild rabbits, birds, pigs and coyotes running around (although we have yet to see the latter two). I can't even count the different varieties of cacti. They all look very prickly.
Everyone here is so nice. It's always interesting coming from the east... people keep remarking about how friendly everyone is here "out west". I love it, I miss it, but I am no longer used to it. It creeps me out just a tiny bit. The people who work here are always smiling and saying hello. Strange.
We have woken up before sunrise each morning. We are still on East Coast time, not to mention the adjustment to daylight savings time. I love getting an early start. Our "alarm" sounds like this (we've been sleeping with the windows open):
"Hoo hoo. Hoo hoo. Hoo Hoo"
"Chirp Chip CHIRP. CHIIIIRRRRP!"
"Click click click click"
It is fun to hear the dessert come alive in the morning. It sounds like a beautifully orchestrated song. We miss the sounds of nature. Horns and sirens do not count.
Our agenda, thus far:
Sunday - We got into Arizona around 1:00 after a very uneventful, although long, flight. Luckily, we stocked up on a few DVDs (thanks to a street vendor- only $5 a pop, but should I feel guilty for buying pirated movies? Probably.), including Dreamgirls, which isn't even out on video yet. That took up 2 hours of the flight. I loved it. I thought it was so fun. The remaining 3 hours... not so fun, but we made it. After checking in and getting settled, we managed to get ready for the first big dinner. It was held near the hotel, in this outdoor pavilion that I can't really explain (pictures to come). Delicious. I love Tex Mex food, and there were multiple stations set up with everything from fajitas to quesadillas to soup to Tres Leches. We were exhausted by the time it was over, but had a good time. Oh- and my dear husband is a little bit on the modest side, but I'm allowed to brag. I'm not being boastful, I'm just so proud of him. Out of the 23,000 people in his division at Citigroup, only 130 worldwide were selected to come to this event. He didn't even tell me this! I had to find out during the speech that Chuck Prince (Citi's CEO) gave at the dinner. That's incredible! Mike is young in comparison to everyone here (which means I am even younger). I think people think we are the children of someone here. We are the youngest people here by at least 10 years. It's a little awkward at times, but we are doing our best to blend.
Monday - Mike had meetings in the morning. I woke up at about 5am (thank you jet lag), and was at the gym by 7:00. It is BEAUTIFUL, with huge windows overlooking this mountain of boulders. I've never ran a better 3 1/2 miles. It felt great. I ate my breakfast by the pool, and spent the next several hours doing absolutely nothing except turning over every half hour. I read for a little bit, but only when it was time to be on my back. We had a great lunch, then got together as a group for a community service activity. We put together bicycles for the Boys & Girls club. It was hot, and my feet got sunburned (who remembers to put sunscreen on their feet?), but it was a valuable activity. We got in a few hours at the pool before we had to get ready for dinner. Dinner. This was fun. We went to an Arabian horse ranch about 20 minutes away that was more castle/estate than ranch. It was absolutely incredible. The owner is Lebanese, but they modeled it after a Moroccan farm. There was even a "King's Room" that was so beautiful. Again, pictures to come. Sigh. We walked around and looked at the dozens of National Champion horses, then watched a show of all of the different equestrian styles. Very interesting. Did you know that a brown horse with a black tail is called a Bay, and that a White horse is actually a Grey horse? Interesting. On another note, Arizona gets cold at night. Everyone was freezing by the time the dinner was over. I bet it dropped 35 degrees. Brr.
Tuesday (today) - Lovely. Mike and I woke up early again, 6:00 or so. We went to breakfast by 7:00 (they had the best home made granola with all sorts of nuts and seeds. Anyone have a good recipe?), and made it to the spa/gym by 9:00 for a "Mind & Body" class. Mike was a good sport for coming, but it turned out to be really tough. I think it's name comes from the fact that you have to be pretty coordinated to do well! It involved medicine balls, bars, free weights, ropes and steps. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards (we were feeling ambitious), we went to a Yoga/Mediation class for an hour and a half. I need to do yoga more often... I really love it. Next... more time at pool, lunch at the spa cafe, then the highlight of the day, massages. It was a very happy hour. :) It's so great to relax. Funny sight of the day- Mike saw a guy actually in the pool and typing on his Blackberry. Now, I pull mine out a few times during the day, but please. V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N.
Tonight - We're going to have a "Cowboy Cookout" somewhere in the dessert. This means I have to find something warm to wear so that we don't have a repeat of last night's shivers. Tomorrow- Mike has meetings in the morning again, so I'm going to do a yoga class in the morning, and we'll get in some pool time together in the afternoon. We have our "dressy" dinner tomorrow night, free time Thursday morning, then we're back to NYC in the afternoon. This has been such a great trip. 2 more days!
Ahh.
I don't even know where to start. Oh- and for the time being, I'm stuck using the internet cafe set up by Citigroup. This means, for the time being, no pictures. We have some great ones, but just need to decide if we want to pay the $-per-minute charge for internet in our room. Lame.
Our room (casita) is bigger than our apartment. Actually, I think the bathroom/closet area is bigger than our apartment. The bed is huge, the sheets are soft, the Aveda products in the bathroom are fantastic, and every night they leave a special treat for us from the spa (last night was a stress relieving oil). There is a fireplace. We look out into the Arizona "jungle" through HUGE sliding glass doors. It is beautiful. There are wild rabbits, birds, pigs and coyotes running around (although we have yet to see the latter two). I can't even count the different varieties of cacti. They all look very prickly.
Everyone here is so nice. It's always interesting coming from the east... people keep remarking about how friendly everyone is here "out west". I love it, I miss it, but I am no longer used to it. It creeps me out just a tiny bit. The people who work here are always smiling and saying hello. Strange.
We have woken up before sunrise each morning. We are still on East Coast time, not to mention the adjustment to daylight savings time. I love getting an early start. Our "alarm" sounds like this (we've been sleeping with the windows open):
"Hoo hoo. Hoo hoo. Hoo Hoo"
"Chirp Chip CHIRP. CHIIIIRRRRP!"
"Click click click click"
It is fun to hear the dessert come alive in the morning. It sounds like a beautifully orchestrated song. We miss the sounds of nature. Horns and sirens do not count.
Our agenda, thus far:
Sunday - We got into Arizona around 1:00 after a very uneventful, although long, flight. Luckily, we stocked up on a few DVDs (thanks to a street vendor- only $5 a pop, but should I feel guilty for buying pirated movies? Probably.), including Dreamgirls, which isn't even out on video yet. That took up 2 hours of the flight. I loved it. I thought it was so fun. The remaining 3 hours... not so fun, but we made it. After checking in and getting settled, we managed to get ready for the first big dinner. It was held near the hotel, in this outdoor pavilion that I can't really explain (pictures to come). Delicious. I love Tex Mex food, and there were multiple stations set up with everything from fajitas to quesadillas to soup to Tres Leches. We were exhausted by the time it was over, but had a good time. Oh- and my dear husband is a little bit on the modest side, but I'm allowed to brag. I'm not being boastful, I'm just so proud of him. Out of the 23,000 people in his division at Citigroup, only 130 worldwide were selected to come to this event. He didn't even tell me this! I had to find out during the speech that Chuck Prince (Citi's CEO) gave at the dinner. That's incredible! Mike is young in comparison to everyone here (which means I am even younger). I think people think we are the children of someone here. We are the youngest people here by at least 10 years. It's a little awkward at times, but we are doing our best to blend.
Monday - Mike had meetings in the morning. I woke up at about 5am (thank you jet lag), and was at the gym by 7:00. It is BEAUTIFUL, with huge windows overlooking this mountain of boulders. I've never ran a better 3 1/2 miles. It felt great. I ate my breakfast by the pool, and spent the next several hours doing absolutely nothing except turning over every half hour. I read for a little bit, but only when it was time to be on my back. We had a great lunch, then got together as a group for a community service activity. We put together bicycles for the Boys & Girls club. It was hot, and my feet got sunburned (who remembers to put sunscreen on their feet?), but it was a valuable activity. We got in a few hours at the pool before we had to get ready for dinner. Dinner. This was fun. We went to an Arabian horse ranch about 20 minutes away that was more castle/estate than ranch. It was absolutely incredible. The owner is Lebanese, but they modeled it after a Moroccan farm. There was even a "King's Room" that was so beautiful. Again, pictures to come. Sigh. We walked around and looked at the dozens of National Champion horses, then watched a show of all of the different equestrian styles. Very interesting. Did you know that a brown horse with a black tail is called a Bay, and that a White horse is actually a Grey horse? Interesting. On another note, Arizona gets cold at night. Everyone was freezing by the time the dinner was over. I bet it dropped 35 degrees. Brr.
Tuesday (today) - Lovely. Mike and I woke up early again, 6:00 or so. We went to breakfast by 7:00 (they had the best home made granola with all sorts of nuts and seeds. Anyone have a good recipe?), and made it to the spa/gym by 9:00 for a "Mind & Body" class. Mike was a good sport for coming, but it turned out to be really tough. I think it's name comes from the fact that you have to be pretty coordinated to do well! It involved medicine balls, bars, free weights, ropes and steps. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards (we were feeling ambitious), we went to a Yoga/Mediation class for an hour and a half. I need to do yoga more often... I really love it. Next... more time at pool, lunch at the spa cafe, then the highlight of the day, massages. It was a very happy hour. :) It's so great to relax. Funny sight of the day- Mike saw a guy actually in the pool and typing on his Blackberry. Now, I pull mine out a few times during the day, but please. V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N.
Tonight - We're going to have a "Cowboy Cookout" somewhere in the dessert. This means I have to find something warm to wear so that we don't have a repeat of last night's shivers. Tomorrow- Mike has meetings in the morning again, so I'm going to do a yoga class in the morning, and we'll get in some pool time together in the afternoon. We have our "dressy" dinner tomorrow night, free time Thursday morning, then we're back to NYC in the afternoon. This has been such a great trip. 2 more days!
Ahh.
4 comments:
Sounds SO relaxing and beautiful and quiet. Wow!
I have such a good homemade granolla recipe, by the way. It is SO delicious! (and no where near low fat!). I'll pass it on.
I'm very excited for the picture to come. (This blogging stuff is addicting, right?!)
Are you motivated to move there now, or is just a great vacation sight? (My mom grew up in AZ. I've never considered living there...)
Wow! Wonderfully fun! I dream of one day going to a spa - Four days would be ideal. I would love to do it with my girls! Mom
Kelli- I would never actually LIVE here. Too hot, too barren. I can see the appeal of being a "snow bird" though (spending winters here). We love New York... just need vacations every so often. :)
Oh- and I want your recipe. : )
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